Again, sorry about the delay; just recently started working two jobs again, and while my bank account is relieved, my energy levels are definitely not pleased.
As Erinth and Morgan dash to one side, and Kin and Antal move to the other, Frederick and Kris both move forward. The folks on either side realize very quickly that they are not in fact the larger group as each side of the road has 3 more warriors waiting for the ambush to trigger. No one is able to get any attacks off this round, but everyone finds themselves in melee.
OOC:
There are three general melees at this point. One with Erinth, Morgan, and 3 armed bandits; one with Kin, Antal, and 3 armed bandits; and one with Frederick, Kris, 2 sergeant types, and the leader of the band. The party is up.
They were equally surprised by your response, hence the reason they couldn't attack before you could respond. It's pretty clear that this isn't a random ambush from the fact you didn't see them sooner; someone went to a lot of effort to pick the ideal spot to strike and made sure everybody was in place before you showed up.
I will be starting my new job soon and it will entail moving to a different city, so I may post less often in the next week or so. I will try to avoid any long absences from the forums, though, and hopefully I'll get a decent internet connection soon
I'm going to hit the fast forward button a bit due to the dropoff of players so that those still active can get this adventure done and get their characters into a more active party.
The battle is intense as it becomes quite clear that these were not random men hired out of a pub, but skilled mercs quite capable of holding their own. When all is said and done, you manage to kill the leader, one of the sergeants, and 4 of the others; the survivors slink off after taking some serious wounds. Victory comes with a price, however; everyone in the party is at least somewhat damaged, and the spellcasters find themselves with few spells left. The equipment on all of the mercs is definitely above average, but aside from the ample gold you find on each of the dead bodies, the leader is the only one that has anything truly interesting; he has a +1 longsword, and an intriguing note that is clearly is some kind of cipher, though none of you can quite make it out.
[sblock=rewards]Experience
CR 5 Hired Thugs 1600 xp total/320 xp each
"I say we split the gold, anything of superior (MW) quality we take and the note. If anyone can use this sword have at it and let us finish this trek quickly. We cannot afford another encounter of this kind." Frederick seems distraught that so many had to die. He will also move the bodies off the road as they are searched.
There is plenty of masterwork gear you can grab as you leave the scene. You get back to the city with no further troubles, and easily locate the school. After a quick delivery and showing school officials the note (to which the school official just shakes her head and replies "Those idiots are still trying to get our secrets I see"), you are paid quite handsomely, and after disposing of the valuable gear that you do not wish to keep, you find yourself with free time on your hands and a lot of gold in your pockets.
OOC:
This ends the adventure. Your final xp and gp totals are in the 1st post and as soon as a judge approves them, you can go ahead and step into the Mystic Pearl to do some shopping. To claim loot, which this adventure didn't really have much special due to the low level nature, and my inability to really work cool stuff into the last fight, you take the total gp from the adventure and subtract the value of the loot from it until all the loot is gone (once something is claimed, no one else can claim it; 1 sword does not magically become 5 at the end of the adventure) or everyone passes. Anything not claimed goes to the Pearl inventory as items that people don't have to roll for. I did not list the masterwork equipment because you don't need to roll for that in the Pearl, and so I'm not worried about you being able to get what you want on that score. I hope you enjoyed the adventure; I apologize for the stilted nature of it's progress, but life got a bit more hectic than anticipated.
Hi, your judge for the game here. After talking it over with one of the other judges, I am going to be amending the XP for this a bit. A couple characters are not involved in the last fight, so their XP is ending early. And, hand waiving a finish of CR5 after the first round is a bit much for an APL of 1. So, that reward is getting trimmed a bit. I realize this means nobody levels, but we the judges need to keep the balance with the experiences of the other players.
Encounter Information
1/1/13 Start
1/25/13 Cave Scorpions: CR2 600 xp 800 gp total ~ 120 xp/160 gp each for ALL Mummer Guards: CR2 600 xp 800 gp total ~ 120 xp/160 gp each for ALL
2/18/13 Vegepygmies: CR4 1200 xp 1700 gp total ~ 240 xp/340 gp each for ALL
Antal: SuperZero's last post 2/2/13, last fight involved Vegepygmies
Kris: Chosen2nd's last post 2/6/12, last fight involve Vegepygmies
3/7/13 Hired Thugs: CR2 600 xp 800 gp total/3 ~ 200 xp/267 gp each for Erinth, Frederick and Morgan
Magical Treasure: +1 longsword
3/13/13 End
Antal Encounter XP: 480; Encounter GP: 700, disappeared after 2/2/2013
time xp (33 days x 7 xp) = 231 xp; level x time gp (33 days x 6 gp) = 198 gp Totals:711 XP and 898 GP
Erinth Encounter XP: 680; Encounter GP: 927
time xp (72 days x 7 xp) = 504 xp; level x time gp (72 days x 6 gp) = 432 gp Totals: 1,184 XP and 1,359 GP
Frederick Encounter XP: 680; Encounter GP: 927
time xp (72 days x 7 xp) = 504 xp; level x time gp (72 days x 6 gp) = 432 gp Totals: 1,184 XP and 1,359 GP
Kris Encounter XP: 480; Encounter GP: 700, disappeared after 2/6/2013
time xp (37 days x 7 xp) = 259 xp; level x time gp (37 days x 6 gp) = 222 gp Totals: 739 XP and 922 GP
Morgan Encounter XP: 680; Encounter GP: 927
time xp (72 days x 7 xp) = 504 xp; level x time gp (72 days x 6 gp) = 432 gp Totals: 1,184 XP and 1,359 GP
The +1 magical sword gets sold off to the Mystic Pearl because none of you could afford to keep it while giving the others a fair share of gold instead.
Edit: Tweaked numbers one more time as the last fight was divided by 3 instead of five.
2nd Edit: DMC = 5.04 = 72 days times 0.07.
